Illinois softball head coach Terri Sullivan’s team fell twice this weekend to the No. 16 Ohio State Buckeyes on the road. While the Illini struggled to cross plate in their first contest Saturday, losing 5-0, they stepped it up in the batter’s box on Sunday, scoring runs in all but two innings in a 17-15 loss.

“(Sunday), every hitter on the team kind of decided enough was enough and learned how to establish their timing early in the game, and we had some terrific offensive performances,” Sullivan said.

Sophomore left fielder Hollie Pinchback set a school record with five hits in Sunday’s game and added five RBIs as well. Pinchback’s record performance followed Saturday’s 0-for-3 struggle at the plate.

“Ohio State’s pitcher was throwing a lot of strikes. It’s not like she was walking us a lot, so we knew we needed to attack all of her pitches quick,” Pinchback said.

Sophomore Danielle Zymkowitz also showed improvement with the bat from Saturday’s shutout. Zymkowitz went 3-for-5 with one walk and two RBIs in Sunday’s contest.

“Our hitting was definitely contagious because we had almost everyone in the lineup getting hits. We just really wanted to take it to them and show them that last game wasn’t all we had,” Zymkowitz said.

The Illini (22-12, 5-4 Big Ten) struggled on the defensive end in Sunday’s game, tallying six errors to help Ohio State (32-6, 6-1) to cross the plate 17 times. Sullivan was disappointed with her team’s aggressiveness in the field.

“We put ourselves in a hole and came from behind on offense. Our defense just wasn’t on today, and we know it can’t be one-sided whether it’s just defensively or offensively,” Sullivan said.

Pinchback agreed with Sullivan that defensively, the Orange and Blue need to spend more time on their toes and less time on their heels.

“We let the ball stay on the ground longer, which let the runner get to the base quicker. It made us rush, so we had to make plays that we don’t normally need to make instead of making very simple ones,” Pinchback said.

Despite the defensive woes and high-scoring affair, Sullivan was proud of the performance by her pitching staff gave Sunday. No matter what the score, she acknowledged the fact that all three pitchers — Monica Perry, Ashley Wright and Christine Christopoulos— worked hard to keep the team up when it was having trouble in the field.

“I’m always pleased with what Monica brings to the team, and actually, in relief, Ashley Wright did a good job for us. We weren’t really making several routine plays behind her, but she gave us a little bit of a lift there. And also, Christine Christopoulous pitched half an inning and gave us a lift too,” Sullivan said.

Although many struggles left the Illini behind this weekend, Sullivan is determined that her girls will pull through in the future.

“I’ll pick a team full of players like we showed today any day,” Sullivan said.